(Alliance News) - Harbour Energy PLC on Thursday outlined new mid-term targets after a "transformational" 2024 that saw the firm buy assets from Wintershall Dea.
The London-based oil and gas company completed the USD11.2 billion deal in September and results announced on Thursday included a four-month contribution from the acquired assets.
The acquisition included Wintershall Dea's upstream hydrocarbon assets in Norway, Germany, Denmark, Argentina, Mexico, Egypt, Libya and Algeria, as well as CO2 capture and storage licences in Europe.
Harbour Energy said pretax profit near doubled to USD1.22 billion in 2024 from USD616 million in 2023, as revenue jumped 66% to USD6.23 billion from USD3.75 billion.
Production increased to 258,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 186,000 a year prior, and capital expenditure rose to USD1.83 billion from USD969 million.
Net debt stood at USD4.42 billion at the end of 2024, rising from USD207 million.
For 2025 to 2027, the firm expects production to average around 450,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and sees material free cash flow generation from this of USD2 billion to USD4 billion.
It plans to cut capital expenditure by 25% to less than USD2.0 billion in 2026 and 2027 and reduce debt by USD500 million to USD1.0 billion.
On capital returns, Harbour Energy pledges a "competitive" annual dividend of USD455 million and sees the potential for "material" additional shareholder returns via share buybacks.
In response to the results, shares in Harbour Energy fell 10% to 191.90 pence each in London on Thursday. They are down 30% over the past 12 months.
Chief Executive Linda Cook said: "Harbour's acquisition of Wintershall Dea's portfolio in 2024 transformed us into a global company with a resilient, diverse portfolio. We have a solid base of existing production plus a set of attractive strategic investment options. These, coupled with our consistent strategy, experienced team and disciplined capital management, will drive strong performance, material free cashflow and sustainable shareholder returns through 2027 and beyond."
Cook added that "value-driven M&A will remain key to our strategy, alongside investments in our existing resource base and selective divestments, as we continually high-grade our portfolio."
The CEO added Harbour has made a "good" start to 2025.
In addition, Harbour said it plans to seek authority from its shareholders at its upcoming AGM to conduct an off-market buyback of shares held by BASF SE, its largest shareholder.
The final dividend was increased 1.5% to 13.19 US cents from 13.0 cents in 2023. Harbour Energy paid an interim dividend of 13 cents, up from 12 cents in 2023.
By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
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